Jan Schoch had to leave his job as head of Leonteq following a disagreement with the board over the sale of shares, according to a report. It was the last straw in a relationship that had soured for a number of reasons.
The departure of Leonteq-strongman Jan Schoch earlier this month was rather abrupt. Business magazine «Bilanz» (in German) for instance had feted Schoch in summer under the headline of «Comeback Kid».
The comeback was short-lived. The magazine in its latest edition says it knows why he left.
Long Time Coming
To begin with: the departure was a sacking. Schoch, the co-founder and the board had had a troubled relationship for quite a while, «Bilanz» says. The main reason was that the CEO had other business priorities apart from his day-to-day job at Leonteq. Real estate, a restaurant in the mountains and Flynt, the fintech bank.
Schoch also is said to be someone who doesn’t easily accept advice, the magazine says, which based its report on unidentified sources at the company. Said activities long had been a cause of concern for the board, but Schoch was having none of it.
A Surprise for Main Shareholder
The relationship finally broke down when Schoch in July sold shares worth 4.1 million Swiss francs. The CEO had not properly reported the sale, «Bilanz» claims. The board had taken offense, in particular because Schoch had used the money to invest in Flynt.
The magazine also says that Rainer-Marc Frey, who owns a major stake in Leonteq, had been surprised about the sacking. He only just had helped install Christopher Chambers as successor to outgoing Chairman Pierin Vincenz but had wanted to retain Schoch for the time being, the report claims.
